Patagonia and Santiago, Chile

On 24th September I flew out of London Heathrow with a group of other travel agents for a trip to Santiago, Chile and Patagonia.

We flew business class with BA on the overnight flight, journey time was circa 14 hours.

On 25th September we started our three nights stay in Santiago at the 4* Plaza San Francisco hotel.

During our stay in Santiago we visited the Sky Costanera observation platform on the 61st and 62nd floors of the Costanera Tower, the tallest building in South America. It had fabulous 360 views across the city and the Andes mountain range.

We did a fabulous city tour of Santiago and visited a range of 4* and 5* hotels too during our stay.

On 27th September we took a flight from Santiago to Punta Arenas, Patagonia and made the three-hour journey to Puerto Natales for our first stay at the Altiplanico Sur hotel for one night’s stay. This is on the shores of Seno Ultima (Last Hope Sound) and is approx. 160 miles from Torres Del Paine National Park.

On 28th September we travelled to the Torres Del Paine National Park for our two-night stay at the Lago Grey hotel, visiting various hotels on the way and sighting condors, guanacos and flamingos.

Patagonia is home to more than 500 species of animals including 60+ mammals and 400+ bird species too!

My room at the Lago Grey overlooked the glacier at Lake Grey and was truly breath-taking to say the least.

On 29th September we had a full-day excursion into the Torres Del Paine National Park, I can safely say that I believe there is nowhere like it on earth and you have to visit Patagonia/Torres Del Paine National park to truly appreciate its captivating beauty and stunning landscapes.

We were able to take in the Nordenskjold Lake, the Salto Grande (Grand waterfall) into Pehoe lake, the Cuerno Del Paine (Horns of Paine) and the Salto Chico (little waterfall).

The highlight of our day was seeing a Puma twice, by the side of our tour van. We were so lucky to have experienced that.

We also took THE most fabulous glacier cruise from Lake Grey too, simply stunning!

We journeyed back to Punta Arenas on 30th September via a stop in Puerto Natales again and had a last night stay in Punta Arenas before flying back to Santiago for a one-night stay.

Back in Santiago and our flight back to the UK on 2nd October.

This was my first visit to South America, and I loved the culture but also especially the wonder that is Patagonia and the Torres Del Paine National Park.

I’d like to think I’ll be back there one day to experience all that it has to offer again with my husband and my family.

It really us like nowhere on earth.